Upper East Regional Director of MoFA, Francis Ennor
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has adopted new measures to help fight the smuggling of subsidized fertilizers .
As part of the new measures, all fertilizer bags under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme are to be uniquely labeled to differentiate them from ordinary fertilizer bags on the market.
The Agric input dealers that have been registered to supply the fertilizers in the region, would also be expected to report the quantity of fertilizers they have brought into the region to the Regional Minister.
They would also be required to show proof of the quantity with their waybills as well as give directions to where the fertilizers are to be stored.
The Upper East Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Francis Ennor, revealed this in an interview with the media in Bolgatanga.
Earlier, there had been a meeting between Agric input dealers in the Upper East Region and Planting for Food and Job Secretariat under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to iron out some of the challenges confronting their businesses.
According to the Regional MoFA Director, the Ministry has decided to assign personnel under the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) to distribute the subsidized fertilizers coupons to farmers so as to get the retailers and Agric input dealers to concentrate on their core mandates.
It is also believed that the new distribution channel would help in curbing the smuggling of the subsided fertilizers because the single source can easily be monitored and checked.
Meanwhile, MoFA’s Upper East Regional Office has started an early distribution of fertilizers to registered farmers under the Planting for Food and Jobs.
FROM: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga